For nearly two months, bottle caps were dropped off at Room 308 of Centennial Hall with the understanding that each bottle cap collected would go towards funding chemotherapy for sick children. For nearly two months, caps were brought to Room 308 in bags both small and large, with each kind giver believing they were truly making a difference through their donations.

Amanda Beck, resident of Centennial Hall at The College of New Jersey, sent a message to her floor’s group chat on September 3, 2016, asking anyone who drank out of plastic water bottles to donate their caps once they were finished. Beck explained that once a certain amount of caps was collected, a child with cancer could get a free round of chemotherapy. Her floor mates were eager to start collecting that same day and did so until October 31^st.

By Halloween, 9,475 bottle caps had been collected. Beck and her roommate spent hours counting the caps, which Beck says were enough to provide about six free rounds of chemotherapy to a sick child. Beck explained that every 1,500 caps provided a round of treatment.

Beck took the cause to heart and championed for the collection of caps to occur. When asked about her motivations, Beck said, “My mom had cancer two times while I was growing up so I have always been very involved in trying to make a change when it comes to cancer. I realized how much water I was drinking at college and how many water bottles are used by everyone here every day. It amazed me that if someone just took the extra time to just take a cap off of their water bottle how many kids could we actually help save.”

However, after further research, it turns out the cap collection could have been a hoax all along. Beck did not know what organization the caps went to, simply saying that her uncle was collecting them through this job. When asked if she could obtain the name of the charity from her uncle, Beck said he was unsure of the charity because the caps collected went to the school district of his boss’s child.

Google searches of “bottle caps for chemotherapy” turn up results saying that these collections are obscure hoaxes passed on by people who believe they are doing the right thing. Snopes.com discusses the development of these efforts and examples of cap collection drives in this article.

Kaitlyn Gallagher, a Centennial Hall resident and nursing major at The College of New Jersey, contributed over 1,000 caps to Beck’s drive and was disappointed to find that it may not have benefited sick children after all. Gallagher said, “I had heard of the drive from when I was a kid…I had collected them for Girl Scouts.” Clearly, there is familiarity with this advocacy effort, but the end results are unclear. While the effort may be rooted in good intentions, a lack of clarity in regards to actual results discredits collection efforts.

Everyday advocacy efforts that focus on small and simple ways of improving lives, such as collecting water bottle caps for a cause, have the potential to become widespread creators of change. For these efforts to be successful, however, clarity and recognition must be present. Clarity in goals and desired results will help those involved understand their roles better. Recognition of an effort by those it is going to help (in this case, cancer patients or organizations dedicated to cancer research) will give it validity.

While there may not be any legitimate “caps for chemo” organizations, a US-based charity called Caps of Love exists to fund wheelchairs for individuals under 21. Wheelchairs are funded by the collection and reselling of certain types of bottle caps, such as those made of Polypropylene #5 and Polyethylene #2 and #4. Once resold, these caps can be made into decking, car interiors and park benches. Information about Caps of Love can be found here.

Successful movements rely on communication, transparency and dedicated individuals. While dedication was present in the Centennial 3 cap collection drive, a lack of communication and transparency about the organization the caps were going to made this effort less effective. No results or sick children who gained chemotherapy due to the caps were spoken of. The main organizer of the drive could not provide the name of the charity that thousands of caps went to. Uncertainty about who or where the caps went to discredits this movement. Although the legitimacy of this movement is unclear, one thing remains certain: TCNJ Lions undeniably put their hearts and passion into improving the lives of others.